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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24176335">Fair and Square</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikawritesthings/pseuds/mikawritesthings'>mikawritesthings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fade to Black, Fluff, Homoeroticism, M/M, Rare Pairings, also technically the character death is oliver's and he got better, but just in case, callbacks, legit i haven't seen anyone else talk about this pairing, like cmon this fandom is huge im disappointed in yall, non-explicit mentions of sex, not sure how many chapters this will have, probably not very many</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:47:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24176335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikawritesthings/pseuds/mikawritesthings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Banks follows the trail of a fellow End avatar, not only to better understand their mutual patron, but also... just to meet him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nathaniel Thorp/Oliver Banks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Meet-Cute</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22867135">Nocturne</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikawritesthings/pseuds/mikawritesthings">mikawritesthings</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nausicaa_E/pseuds/Nausicaa_E">Nausicaa_E</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am *very* proud of this fic, and I had to post it as soon as I could. I'm only linking to my own fic as an "inspiration" because I wanted to explore the same concepts here as I did there.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>[SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS, SOMETHING DRAGGING ON THE GROUND]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hell is this?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[GROAN]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I talk to the archivist </span>
  <em>
    <span>once. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I leave, and now these, these tape recorder things are </span>
  <em>
    <span>following </span>
  </em>
  <span>me everywhere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>...I </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>also sneak into the archive. And swipe a statement from the archive. And move around a few of the archivist’s pens to mess with him when he gets back. I’m surprised I didn’t get, like, a hand on my shoulder from one of their </span>
  <em>
    <span>all-seeing staff.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I’m not very good at this “villain” thing, am I?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, I promise you, whoever’s listening, that I took this statement for a reason. It’s from one “Nathaniel Thorp,” who apparently gambled for his life with Death. Then he won, </span>
  <em>
    <span>became </span>
  </em>
  <span>Death for a few hundred years. Then someone beat </span>
  <em>
    <span>him, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and now he… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had this sentiment towards the end, something like: “I know there were others like me. But I don’t know where.” I guess I related to that. Not just because I’m gay, [CHUCKLE] though that was certainly part of it. Just… it’d be comforting, you know? To meet someone else who’s with the End, even if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>an eighteenth-century party boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So I’ve managed to track him down. It was difficult; he’s moved around a bit these past few decades. But I figured it out. Even saw some veins leading up here, to a cabin in the middle of no-fucking-where. And you know what? They were </span>
  <em>
    <span>severed.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>...I suppose I should knock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[EXACTLY ONE KNOCK]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[DISTANT SOUND OF A MUSKET BEING LOADED]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Was that a </span>
  <em>
    <span>musket</span>
  </em>
  <span> being loaded?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE [SLIGHTLY MUFFLED, AS IF FROM BEHIND DOOR]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Are you with </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the Ghost?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I… No?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Are you with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ghost Hunt UK?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Didn’t they go defunct?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh, Christ, are you with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Buzzfeed Unsolved?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[SOUNDING SLIGHTLY OFFENDED] </span>
  <em>
    <span>No!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Right, then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[DOOR CREAKS OPEN]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What do you want?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Name’s Oliver Banks. I think this file should be self-explanatory.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[BEAT]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER [SOTTO VOCE]</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh shit, is he still illiterate?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>VOICE</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I heard that. And… [SHUFFLING OF PAPERS]</span>
</p>
<p><span>Nathaniel Thorp?</span> <span>[MORE SHUFFLING] 1972?</span> <span>Oh. Oh, this </span><em><span>is </span></em><span>from when I was illiterate.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>But you’re not with the Magnus Institute, either. You look too young to have been there in the 1970’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>You’re…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>You’re with the End.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah. I’m with the End.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>NATHANIEL</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[DRY CHUCKLE] All those years. All those </span>
  <em>
    <span>decades. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I knew there were </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>of us, but--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Do you want to come in? I don’t know if a house as small as mine could accommodate all your, er…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Veins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>NATHANIEL</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Veins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They phase through walls most of the time. Ghost logic, y’know.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>NATHANIEL</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I suppose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Is-- is that tape recorder yours?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>OLIVER</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yes. Yes, it is.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>[RECORDER SHUTS OFF]</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Strategy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Oliver asks Nathaniel a few questions.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay, this is the chapter I'm proudest of. *Ben Wyatt gif voice* It's about the inherent homoeroticism of playing against Death.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>[NATHANIEL TRYING NOT TO LAUGH]</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Come on, it’s not <em> that </em>funny.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Yes, it is! “Someone who was evil”? That could mean just about any of her ghosts.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Can’t be. I’ve looked in all the haunted places she’s talked about, and you know what I found? <em> Nothing. </em></p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Not even the Shattered Tombstone?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Oh, God, don’t talk to me about the Shattered Tombstone. Nothing there but some college kid who wouldn’t shut up about detectives.</p><p>Wait. Have <em> you </em>looked at those haunted places, too?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Of course I have. I’ve been looking for people like us for <em> five decades, </em> remember? Within a few <em> months, </em> I exhausted all the haunted pubs in London. <em> Why are there so many haunted pubs in London? </em></p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Months? Try <em> weeks. </em></p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Well, you had the Internet. I started my search a bit <em> before </em>it even existed. Even when the Internet came into play, that made the search no less frustrating. </p><p>But on the other hand, it <em> has </em>helped me realize a few things about myself.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Things?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>
  <em> Things. </em>
</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Oh. <em> Things. </em> As in… <em> things. </em></p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Yes. <em> Things </em>as in “I’m bisexual.”</p><p>OLIVER [SOTTO VOCE]</p><p>Thank God.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>I heard that, too.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>
  <em> Shit. </em>
</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Oh, wow! [LAUGHS] I didn’t know we’d still be able to <em> blush. </em></p><p>OLIVER</p><p>I swear to God, I’m <em> just barely </em>light enough to--</p><p>…Wait. “Us”. “We”?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>“We”. People touched by Death. I’d say “ghosts” or “undead”, but that’s just oversimplifying.</p><p>There’s that blush again.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Shut <em> up! </em></p><p>Ugh, I have so many questions.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>More than you’ve asked already?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Well… <em> real </em>questions.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p><em> Real </em> questions?</p><p>Alright, then, my fellow avatar of the End. I’ll give you three.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Three? Why three?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>And there’s your first question.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Wait, n--</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Too late. It’s a very good one.</p><p>The narrative rule of threes, Dreamer. The End loves a good story; it’s one of the ways humanity decorates the inevitable passage of time. That’s why I gave my statement in story form. I’m no longer Death-the-Gambler itself, but I’m still… a <em> facet </em>of Death. Of the End. You could very well demand the same limits of others, if you wanted.</p><p>How good are you at chess, by the way?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Okay, I object to this one. I <em> read </em>your statement; you said you were a master of chess.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>When I was Death<em>. </em> As soon as I got defeated, all that knowledge left me. Like water through a sieve. Then I realized I was actually <em> terrible </em>at it.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p><em>Terrible? </em>[AUDIBLY SMIRKING] Alright, then.</p><p>[SOUND OF A CHESS PIECE BEING MOVED]</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>That was quick. </p><p>[ANOTHER CHESS PIECE BEING MOVED]</p><p>[CHESS PIECES CONTINUE TO SOFTLY, RHYTHMICALLY CLACK AGAINST BOARD]</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>So why games?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Question two. I suppose that’s appropriate; the answer is twofold.</p><p>With games of chance, playing against the End is not unlike facing it. If you lose, you lose, whether you like it or not, and you can never know for certain that you will win. If the odds are fair, of course.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>And if you don’t <em> cheat.  </em></p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>But of course. If you cheat, there are consequences. I know that better than anyone, and so, Dreamer, do <em> you. </em></p><p>Check.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Nice try.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>As for games of strategy like chess, the truth is that <em> no </em> strategy can defeat the plain and simple fact that one day,  all things shall cease. One could invent a thousand new ways to try and become immortal, but eventually, inevitably, everything decays, and erodes, and <em> dies. </em></p><p>OLIVER</p><p>“The moment I die will feel just like this one.”</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>[CHUCKLE] It certainly <em> hurts </em>a bit more, if you take the hard way out.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>God, yeah.</p><p>Do… Do you still miss any of it? About being alive? Like, just… food, sleep, sex?</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>So your final question is <em> threefold. </em>Clever.</p><p>I’ve never really wanted food since. First time I tried to eat, it was more out of curiosity than hunger or nostalgia. I miss food, yes, but in the same way you might miss things from your childhood. I’ve… grown past it.</p><p>Sleep is the same. I read somewhere that scientists say the most likely reason we need to sleep is because we get tired. And all these years, I’ve simply never been tired.</p><p>Sex, though… That’s not a <em> survival </em>need. I don’t know if it’d be entirely possible, but I, I haven’t exactly tried.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Almost 50 years, not aging a single day, and you haven’t <em>“tried?” </em></p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>That had better be a rhetorical question; you’re all out otherwise.</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>It-it’s rhetorical.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Have <em> you </em>tried?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Ugh, touché.</p><p>Check.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>The idea of intimacy is frightening for us, isn’t it? I’ve… fallen into a bit of a slump since I gave up on my search. It’s been ages since I so much as <em> touched </em> anyone.</p><p>[BEAT]</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>What are you doing?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Offering you my hand. So you can... touch it.</p><p>[BEAT]</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Wow, and you said <em> I </em>was blushing.</p><p>Your hands are freezing.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>So are yours.</p><p>Do you think the <em> veins-- </em></p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Like dry ice. I wouldn’t.</p><p>[HEAVY PAUSE]</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Remember how I said I was terrible at chess?</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>I remember.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>I <em> was. </em></p><p>Checkmate.</p><p>[CHAIR SCRAPING AGAINST FLOOR SLIGHTLY]</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Your lips are cold, too.</p><p>NATHANIEL</p><p>Oliver. Oliver, I…</p><p>You should probably turn that off. For… if…</p><p>OLIVER</p><p>Yeah, I’ll get it.</p><p>[RECORDER SWITCHES OFF]</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you're one of the two people who've read my other End fic and noticed the parallels, congratulations! You get an ice-cold, stale cookie.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Post-Game</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Things wind down.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>[VEINS SLIGHTLY DRAGGING ACROSS FLOOR]</p>
<p>[SHEETS RUSTLING]</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>That was… That was <em> different.  </em></p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s one way to put it.</p>
<p>Why do you even have a <em> bed, </em>if you can’t sl--</p>
<p>Oh, right. No more questions.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>I’ve still got a few questions for <em> you, </em>you know.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>Three.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>[LAUGHS] You’re adapting quickly.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>I had your help, didn’t I?</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>That you did.</p>
<p>So when’d you accept it? This role as a villain.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>I don’t know. I still don’t think I fully <em> have. </em> I thought that after I’d… well, after I’d actually killed someone, in order to do what the End wanted, that made me evil. Some kind of <em>sympathetic </em> villain, to maybe tug a few people’s heartstrings. Never heard of the Grim Reaper using their powers for good.</p>
<p>No offense.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>None taken.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>And I’ve tried, y’know. I’ve tried to be a villain, at least for the archivist. To play the part, to be all ominous and, and <em> ghostly, </em>but that hasn’t really worked either. I guess that’s just how the End is; it doesn’t need to be actively antagonistic to anyone. People can certainly do terrible things in its name, but it’s passive. The world is already full of living creatures who are afraid to die.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>I know <em> I </em>was.</p>
<p>The tape recorder’s on again.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>Oh, shit, how long has it <em> been-- </em></p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>Only a few minutes, it looks like.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>[SIGH OF RELIEF] That scared me to d-- I mean, I almost had a heart atta-- I mean--</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>[GIGGLE]</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>
  <em> I was worried. </em>
</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>Who do you think those tapes are being recorded for, anyway? I doubt mortal ghost hunters would resort to technology as dated as this. </p>
<p>Perhaps the Institute?</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>That seems a bit too obvious. Maybe the Eye is branching out from statements. Maybe the Web is using them for something. Or maybe…</p>
<p>Maybe the End wants something more from us.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>More than we’ve already given. I wouldn’t be surprised.</p>
<p>If we wanted to make sure, we could always go back to the Shattered Tombstone.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>I’d need to emotionally prepare myself first.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>Well, prepare yourself faster; I want to meet whoever the hell that “college kid” is.</p>
<p>Besides, it’d be good to not return to London alone.</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>That’d be nice. I haven’t been on a proper date since I… since I was alive.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>“Date”?</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>“Date”.</p>
<p>NATHANIEL</p>
<p>[SLIGHTLY AWED] “Date”.</p>
<p>...So what happens now?</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>Now?</p>
<p>[LONG PAUSE]</p>
<p>OLIVER</p>
<p>...I don’t know.</p>
<p>[RAIN BEGINS TO DRUM ON ROOFTOP]</p>
<p>[RECORDER SWITCHES OFF]</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading... whatever the hell this was. It's good to have my very specific take on these very specific characters validated.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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